


Fire Lily

by kattahj



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, Newborn Children, One Night Stands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 02:50:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16338410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kattahj/pseuds/kattahj
Summary: Lily finds Mick Rory soothing. And kind of hot. It must be the post-pregnancy hormones.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you katiekeysburg/keysburg for the beta and bold-sartorial-statement/Thette for the nicknames!  
> Thanks (or curses) also to Dominic Purcell for making a comment about these two "spending the night", which had me going, "How would THAT happen!?" and 7,000 words later here we are.

Lily was fine as long as there were people in the room. Sure, she was aching and exhausted and sweating buckets, but the ordeal was over and the baby had been born – and what a beautiful baby he was! She counted the fingers and toes (all accounted for), kissed his little forehead, and gazed into those sky-blue eyes in the scrunched up little old man face. Mom was there, like she had been every step of the way. Even Dad had made it back from the Waverider, with Jax and that big hulk Mick Rory in tow.

But then baby Ronnie was taken out of the room, and Lily kind of dozed off, and when she woke up, she was all alone.

The void in the room formed a name: Doug.

Or not Doug, per se. After the way he had flaked on everything baby-related, Lily was relieved to have Doug out of her life. One less thing to worry about. She had definitely made the right decision, no matter what her dad had to say about it. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have washed him out of her hair with a girls’ night out, a rebound guy, and lots of alcohol, and that would have been that.

But these weren’t ordinary circumstances, and no matter how much she told herself that Doug was useless, that Mom was much better support in every way, and that she, Lily Stein, was still a smart, strong, sexy lady, baby and all, she couldn’t help the lump forming in her throat or the burning in her eyes.

”Hey, Junior.”

More of a growl than a greeting, but Mick Rory looked amiable enough, for him, as he strode into the room, brandishing a cigar.

”I got you this,” he said and handed the cigar over.

”Thanks,” she said, turning it over in her hand. She couldn’t recall ever holding one before. ”Uh, I don’t smoke.”

He shrugged. ”So sell it. Or keep it. It’s traditional.”

”It’s traditional for f...” She sighed. ”Fathers.”

”Plenty to go around. And you’re the one who did all the work. Anyway, I haven’t seen him. Where is he?”

”I don’t know,” she said, cursing the brittle note in her voice. ”And I’m not mailing this to him. So I’ll be keeping it. Thank you.”

He sat down, crossed his arms, and leaned forward, studying her expression like she was a synthetic protein that refused to fold. ”He’s not in the picture anymore, huh?”

”Nope.”

”You okay?”

There was absolutely no way that she would allow herself to cry. ”I’m fine. Mom’s been a lot of help. A lot. You should give _her_ a cigar.”

”Okay, I will,” he said.

The simplicity of his statement made her smile. ”And Dad’s here too, and I’ve been given a really generous maternity deal from the department. I still have to do some research, but I would have been doing that anyway, because you know me, I can’t stay away from that stuff. And I just gave birth to the most beautiful little baby boy in the world, and he’s healthy, and fine, and I’m fine.”

At that, he gave a low rumble from his chest, but no other reply.

Lily was finding it hard to speak as well. She fumbled for the tissues on the bedside table, just in case, but the tears didn’t seem about to fall after all. Wallowing was harder with that looming presence right next to her.

It should have been threatening, but somehow it wasn’t.

“D’you need anything?” he asked abruptly after about a minute. “That I can get you?”

“No,” she said, because she didn’t want him to leave for any reason, not even to fetch Mom and Dad, who were darlings, both of them, but who she didn’t really want around while she was moping. Dad least of all – he’d soon go off on his time-travels in any case, and he’d been so upset with the breakup, she didn’t want to give him a chance to provide even the gentlest of I told you so-s.

This was much better.

“Just... could you stay?” she asked. “For a few minutes.”

“Yeah.”

He got more comfortable in the chair, but didn’t say anything else, just sat there watching her.

She watched him too: the shaved head, the bulky body, the dark clothes and leather gloves. In every way, he looked like the thug and criminal she had been told he was.

Suddenly, he leaned over and brushed the hair out of her face, like Mom might have done. She smiled at the gentleness of the touch, and he raised his eyebrows, a hint of humor in his eyes that didn’t quite reach his mouth.

It was a nice mouth.

She blinked, unsure of why that thought had made its appearance, about an ex-criminal well into his forties, who wouldn’t have been her idea of a pinup boy even back in high school when she was hardcore into bikers. And most of those had been better conversationalists to boot.

Returning to his previous position, he took out a lighter from his inner pocket, and sat there slowly clicking it on and off, mesmerized by the flame.

Pyromaniac, she reminded herself. Likely to burn the whole place down.

But it didn’t seem likely at all.

The clicking, the fire, and most of all the sense of peace on his face were soothing, and pretty soon her eyes drifted close again.

What felt like just moments later, she was jolted back awake by the nurse entering the room with baby Ronnie.

“Feeding time!” she announced.

Mick was standing by the window, but turned around at this with a mildly interested expression.

“Thank you”, Lily said to the nurse, taking Ronnie in her arms. “And thank _you_ for staying with me,” she told Mick. “It’s okay, you can leave now.”

“I don’t mind,” he said.

That made her laugh. “But I do, rather. Please leave before I take my tit out.”

As he made his way over to the door, she called out to him:

“I do mean it, though, thank you! You really helped.”

He stopped for a moment. “If you ever need anything, you call up the Waverider. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she agreed.

Satisfied with that, he left. Slowly, Lily opened her gown to give Ronnie access to her breast, her eyes still fixed on the empty doorway.

It had to be hormones, she decided. Post-pregnancy hormones could do the strangest things. There was no other explanation for her sudden desire to climb that man like a tree.

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

Truth be told, Lily had no particular wish to go to Barry’s and Iris’s rehearsal dinner, or even the wedding, for that matter. She was still stuck in a sleep-deprived haze, her breasts ached, her vagina stung, her stomach muscles had been torn in two, and she had real problems getting to the bathroom in time. Not to mention, if she went stag with a baby in tow she’d invite in all sorts of well-meaning comments that might not be quelled even with the ring she’d taken to wearing. And she didn’t even _know_ them that well; they were just people her dad occasionally worked with.

But she didn’t want to stay behind like some sort of recluse, either, and anyway, Dad would be there. So in the end she put on a dress suit and embroidered blouse, did her makeup, and came along.

During the first rounds of greetings, people mostly focused on Ronnie, who was at first charmed by the attention, then overwhelmed and fussy, and finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. For a while, Lily could remain at a table chatting with Mom and Jax.  He was more of a brother than a friend by now, and never a problem to talk to. That was fine. She had a good time, even.

But when you got right down to it, that beautiful, loving couple in the middle of the celebrations, as much as she wished them well... it grated. Through the smiles and toasts, part of her wanted to just chug down a beer, like Mick Rory was doing over at the bar. Non-alcoholic wine just wasn’t the same.

Her eyes rested on Mick for a little while, and when the speech was over, she contemplated going over to talk to him, but instead she found her hands caught by Caitlin’s.

“Lily,” Caitlin said with that warm smile. “So good to see you. How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” she said. She returned the smile and gave another one to Cisco, by Caitlin’s side. “How are you guys?”

“Good,” Cisco said. “Listen, I heard about Doug. What an asshole. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

“I’m the one who broke up with him,” Lily said, forcing her voice to stay pleasant. “So he probably does.”

“Oh. Uh, was there another woman, or...?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“Cisco!” Caitlin said, elbowing her friend in the ribs. “Listen, Lily, I think you’re incredibly brave. It can’t be easy.”

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Lily said. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Ronnie was over by her mom, still fast asleep in his carriage, but one of the few convenient things about a newborn was that he was a ready-made excuse to get out of any situation. She took her time doing up his little cardigan and tucking him in, as if he wasn’t well tucked to start with.

“Hi, Lily!” Barry, this time, looking kind and concerned as always. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you before. I’m glad you came! I wasn’t sure you would.”

“Thank you! I’m glad to be invited. Congratulations!”

“Thanks. Are you okay? I mean, with everything that’s happened.”

What would happen if she said, ‘about to scream, actually’? “Sure.”

“I don’t know exactly how things went down, but...”

“What a little cutie pie!” shouted a voice, and Barry’s blonde alien friend came up to them. She immediately hushed herself upon seeing that said little cutie pie was, in fact, asleep, and then proceeded to coo rather more quietly than strictly needed, seeing how Ronnie was wearing earmuffs.

There were a few more similar rounds with other people. Sweet and harmless, no offense meant on any part, absolutely no reason for Lily to want to unhinge her jaw, bite someone’s head off, and spew blood and lava all over the floor like some ancient mythical beast.

For some reason, going to talk to Mick Rory seemed like the next best thing.

He looked just the same as the last time she’d seen him, including the clothes, and was once again over at the bar getting more to drink.

She hauled the carriage along and hurried her steps just a little to catch him there. “Hi!”

“Hi.” He tilted the newly opened bottle in her direction. “Beer?”

“I can’t drink. I’m breastfeeding.”

“Huh. More for me.” After taking a deep swig from the bottle, he asked, “You do eat though, yeah?”

“Sure.”

“Good.”

With that, he strode off, and she remained in place for a moment, taken aback, before coming to the conclusion that this was probably, in its own way, a form of invitation.

They made their way to the buffet table, where Lily, who had already eaten her fill, took a few more tasty items, while Mick stacked his plate to Jenga tower heights.

“Wow, that’s a lot of food,” she said as they found a place to sit down.

“Saves me a few trips. How are you?”

“I’m good. You?”

“Yeah. And him?” Mick nodded at the baby carriage, then frowned. “Why’s he wearing headphones?”

“They’re earmuffs,” she said. “Noise cancelling. So he won’t wake up if things get loud.”

“Smart.”

“So how are things on the Waverider? Any fun adventures lately?”

A shadow flew over his face. “No.” Then he amended, “Yes. We met your ancestor.”

“Really?” Dad hadn’t told her that part. “What was he like?”

“Looked like the Professor. Giant jerk, though.”

“Are you saying my dad’s not a jerk?” she teased. “He’ll be so happy to hear that.”

“Yeah, don’t tell him.”

With plenty of prompting on Lily’s part, Mick told her a bit more about said ancestor, as well as a few other things that had happened during their time travel adventures. He seemed to be skirting around the edges of some event or other, but she figured she didn’t know him nearly well enough to crack that nut open, if he wasn’t willing to talk on his own. She could always ask Dad a few pointed questions later, see if it was end of world stuff.

“I heard Dad might be getting home,” she said softly.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. These past few years, she had missed her dad something awful, first when she thought that he was dead, then when he was away on trips through time, not always hitting the right dates upon his return. But on the other hand, this all meant so much to him: the important work, the adventure, and the team.

Mick watched her in silence for a moment, then said, “That’s good, yeah? He can be there for you and Double.”

“What’s double?”

He nodded towards the carriage. “Junior junior. Double.”

“He’s got a _name_ ,” she said, trying not to laugh. “It’s Ronnie.”

“Names are wasted on babies. Can’t even answer to ‘em.”

“Well, they make the birth certificate a lot easier.”

“Ronnie was Jax version 1, right? You guys were close?”

“I’m closer with Jax,” she said. “But it’s traditional to name children after dead relatives who had admirable qualities. Ronnie certainly qualified.”

“A hero.” The statement was so flat it was hard to tell whether or not there was any sarcasm intended.

“Yes,” she said, because that was the plain truth. “Plus, it’s gender neutral. If he’d been a girl, he could still have been named Ronnie, and we could just make it short for Veronica.”

“Good name,” he said, and drained the last of his beer. “Be right back.”

She watched him head off for more alcohol, and the hormones were very clearly still working overtime, because her body ached for him. Room full of guys who were younger and fitter, and yet her torn up vagina, in some advanced form of masochism, was screaming for her to take this man home and ride him all night long.

Of course, there was something to be said for a guy who didn’t yammer on endlessly about everything he knew or tried to impress her in any way. Who was just there, who said and did very little – it was like lying on a warm rock on a sunny day.

When he returned, he had two more beers for himself and a non-alcoholic version that he handed over to her.

He chugged down most of one beer without breathing, and Lily blinked.

“Not too concerned with your liver, are you?”

He shrugged. “Why would I be? Gideon’ll take care of it.”

“The computer? She can heal people, too?”

“Yeah. We’ve got a med-bay. Few minutes in there and she’ll fix you up right as rain.”

“Wow,” she said. “I could use one of those.”

“Why?”

“I just had a _baby_.” That didn’t seem to clarify anything, judging by his expression. “There are bits of me that have been... you know what? I’m not talking to you about this.”

“Hm.” He stuffed the last remaining bits of food in his mouth, chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed it down with the rest of the beer. Then he grabbed the remaining bottle and stood up. “Come on, then.”

She rose as well, automatically. “Where?”

“We can take the jumpship to the Waverider. Get you fixed up and back here in no time.”

Her jaw dropped. For a moment, she had the urge to give a courtesy protest, but she quickly quenched that. Free futuristic healthcare was much too good an offer.

* * *

The jumpship was parked on a football field half a mile away. Getting the baby carriage into it took some effort, and woke up Ronnie, so the rest of the trip to the Waverider was spent calming him down. He was still fussing slightly as Lily stepped on board the actual ship, which she did with some trepidation. This wasn’t her first visit, but the first where she would be subjected to any kind of medical treatment, and she wasn’t sure what to expect.

The med-bay was, if possible, even less cozy than a regular hospital – just a big grayish room with some monitors and what looked like dentist’s chairs. She sat up in one of the chairs awkwardly at Mick’s nudging and wondered when she was supposed to take her clothes off.

“Gideon, Junior here needs your help,” Mick told the computer. “She’s been torn up by that baby of hers.”

The monitors lit up with a cross section of her body.

“I can see that,” said Gideon. “Don’t worry, Dr. Stein, this won’t take long.”

A blue light moved over her body, accompanied by a warm tickling sensation in her breasts, followed by a pulling in her midriff as the split muscle moved back in place. Then the light moved further down, and she spread her legs for better access. Slowly, the by-now familiar stings and burns faded away.

It felt _amazing_. In fact, it was so intense that Lily moaned and bucked her hips against the chair before she could stop herself. Immediately embarrassed, she forced her muscles to remain still, even as jolts of pleasure shot through her body.

Then the sensation ceded, and Gideon said, “There, all done. It was simple enough.”

“Thank you,” Lily said, pressing her thighs together as she sat back up.

Mick wasn’t quite smiling, but there was a definite hint of amusement in his face as he said, “You sure enjoyed that, huh?”

“Shut up,” she said. “I mean, thank you, for the help. But shut up. Is there a bathroom?”

“Down the hall.”

He walked off, with a jerk of his head for her to come along, and she did, dragging the baby carriage.

The bathroom was eerily futuristic, but then, she didn’t mean to use the facilities themselves. With some help from hand-written instructions on the wall, she managed to get the door locked, and then unbuttoned her dress to get a good feel underneath.

The warm lump in her breast was gone – the breast was still full and heavy, but no longer uncomfortable. And while the stretch marks remained on her belly, she could bend and turn every which way.

Fascinated, she pulled down her pantyhose and underwear, and rubbed her hand against the labia. No stitches. No swelling. Everything felt much like it had a year ago.

The lingering warmth from Gideon’s treatment intensified at the touch, and Lily moved her hand up to her clit, stroking it in small circles. Shivers spread through her body. At this point, she didn’t really need the help of fantasies to get to the finish line, but even so, her thoughts went unbidden to the broad shoulders and strong arms of the man waiting outside, the wide jaw, shaved head, and surprisingly luscious mouth. She bit her lip in order to keep quiet, and moved her fingers faster.

The cry of her baby broke through her concentration. With a sigh, she tossed her pad in the trash, fixed her clothes back up and went over to the weird S-shaped sink. Another hand-written sign, fastened to the mirror, declared, “Say ‘Water’ for water and ‘Stop’ to stop.”

“Water,” she said, and took deep breaths as she washed her hands, willing the shivers away. “Stop.”

Ronnie’s cries were starting to subside, but the mood was already ruined, and so she stepped outside.

Mick was holding Ronnie up against his chest. The earmuffs were off, probably because Mick was singing. Well, for a certain definition of “singing”.

”...And it’s hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain...”

Lily smiled. There wasn’t much of a melody to the words, but Ronnie didn’t seem to mind. Probably he enjoyed the vibrations of that low-pitched noise.

Mick stopped abruptly when he saw her. “Kid was crying,” he said. “I figured...”

“Yeah,” she said. “You did good.”

He held out Ronnie for her to take, and she did, moving the baby as gently as she could so as to not disturb him again.

They were standing really close, now. And it was impractical, with a baby in the middle, not to mention unerotic, but even so, she couldn’t resist. She leaned in, and kissed him.

That mouth was just as soft as it looked, and he deepened the kiss, prying her lips open with his tongue.

Someone moved at the edge of Lily’s vision, and she broke off the kiss. “Oh! Hi.”

“Hi,” said the dark-haired woman in the plaid flannel shirt, who was awkwardly standing at the end of the corridor. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to disturb. I just heard a baby crying, and I figured, there might be some kind of trouble I should know about. But I don’t need to know about this.” She raised a hand in greeting. “I’m Zari.”

“Lily. Stein. I’m Martin’s daughter.”

Zari’s eyes widened. “Definitely not something I need to know about. Gonna go now. Nice to meet you. Bye!”

With that, she slunk out through a side door.

“So,” said Lily, shoulders deflating.

“So,” echoed Mick. His eyes were fixed on her mouth, and he was almost smiling now. “Wanna...?”

Ronnie made a small, but insistent sound and pawed at Lily’s breast. She sighed.

“I need to feed him. And then probably change him. And... I don’t know. Maybe it’d be easiest to just take him home and put him to bed.”

The smile died away, though the softness stayed in his eyes. “Okay.”

So. That was it. Futuristic healing or not, no getting laid for the single mom. She’d just take her baby home and have an early night, alone in front of the TV.

Fuck that.

“Although,” she said. “Maybe you could come along. If we manage to get him to sleep, we’ll have plenty of time to spend together before the others come home.”

“Looking to try out Gideon’s handiwork?” he teased.

“I didn’t say that,” she said primly, and then admitted, “Yes.”

At that, he actually grinned, laugh lines forming around his blue eyes. “Sure. Just give me my turn in the bathroom, first.”

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

Maybe Ronnie knew that his mommy was looking to have him out of the way quickly, and resented it, because there was a lot of fussing before he had finished feeding, and then more fussing while his diaper was changed, and spraying mom’s party clothes with pee so she had to take them off, and then some extra cries for good measure before he finally drifted off in his crib, sullen and sweaty.

Rinsed off, in underwear and a robe, Lily could finally step into her bedroom where Mick was inspecting the bookshelves.

“You’ve got a lot of books,” he said.

“Yeah,” she agreed, stepping in close so she could sneak an arm around his waist. His muscles tensed up for a second, but then he relaxed, though his eyes were still fixed on the bookshelf.

“Most of them look boring as shit.”

“They’re for work. Quite interesting, if you’re looking to advance the field of nanotechnology.”

“Hm. ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’.”

“Not for work. Childhood favorite.”

He took the book out and read the first line. “‘In the land of Ingary where such things as seven-league-boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three.’ Hmm.”

There was a thoughtful note in that second ‘hmm’ that made her look up at him, and smile at what she saw. “You want to read it!”

“I do. But not tonight.” He leaned down and kissed her, hands going down to untie her robe.

“Didn’t peg you for a reader,” she said once her mouth was free again.

“People don’t.” The robe fell off her shoulders. “Nice.”

There wasn’t a lot of undressing left to be done, for her. He was a different matter. She pulled his jacket back much as he had done with her robe, and then she proceeded to the belt of his pants while he removed his gloves.

When he started to pull up his shirt, her hands stilled, and the breath caught in her throat at the sight of the scarring beneath. There was so much of it. Her eyes followed along, from stomach to chest to shoulders and arms – there was a fresher burn on one forearm – and then he tossed the shirt aside and gave her a hard glare.

It was a glare she had caught a glimpse of sometimes, in her own reflection. It said: give me an ounce of sympathy and I will fucking _end_ you.

With fumbling hands and racing thoughts, she finished on the belt and pulled the pants down. Turned out he went commando. She stroke her fingers lightly along his shaft, which stiffened to the touch. But the rest of his body was too tense, too still, and she searched for something to say.

_Was_ there a right way to react? In a way, it would have been easier when she still had her own ailments, before Gideon got to work.

But then, Gideon could surely have done the same to him. Which meant that, for whatever reason, Mick had chosen to stay scarred.

You couldn’t really feel sorry for someone’s choice. Thinking of it as a variation instead of a flaw, that mottled skin wasn’t even unattractive. If anything, it enhanced the strength of the body beneath.

She pressed a kiss against his chest, then the collarbone, and the side of his neck.

“Hey,” she murmured into his ear. “I’ve wanted to fuck you since you came to my hospital room.”

His face softened and his posture eased, as he stepped out of his pants and undid her bra. Upside of breastfeeding: front-fastened bras. “Yeah? I’ve wanted to fuck you since the first day I met you.”

“When you thought I was an aberration?” This was good, they were back on track, his large hand closed around her breast, thumb caressing it lightly.

“A hot aberration.”

“Well, then, get on with... oh, fuck!”

“What?”

“No condoms.” It had been so long since she last needed one, she didn’t have any left.

He guffawed at that and reached down to fish a packet from his trouser pocket. “I got ‘em. Hoped I might get laid tonight.”

“With me, or just in general?”

“In general.” Moving in closer, he kissed her again and tugged her panties down slightly, slipping his hand in. “But I got luckier than I thought I would.”

“Right back at ya,” she murmured against his lips, closing her thighs against his fingers as they rubbed at her clitoris.

“And here I thought it was just Gideon getting you horny.”

“No. Well, yes. But you got me horny first.”

“Little science lady likes to play with fire?”

“I can levitate a flame like you wouldn’t believe.” She snatched the condom packet from his fingers, and tore it open with slow precision.

Kneeling down, she unrolled the condom onto his dick, caressing it a little on the way, but deliberately not overdoing it. She was already wet and ready, but she didn’t want this over too quickly.

He reached down and took a firm but gentle hold around her waist, lifting her up onto the bed. Slowly, kissing his way down her thigh, he eased her panties off. Once he had free access to her legs, he gently nudged them aside to kneel between them on the mattress, and she followed along in the direction that his guiding hands indicated, until she straddled his thighs.

“This work for you?”

She crossed her ankles behind his back to pull him in. “Do it.”

Maybe it was just the sheer joy that she was out of her dry spell, with a body that worked and had no uncomfortable occupant.Whatever the reason, there was a dizzying intensity to the sensation as he pushed inside. She adjusted slightly to a better angle, held him close and kissed every inch of skin she could reach, already moaning with pleasure.

Pretty soon, he reached a steady rhythm, and she let herself fall back into a semi-lying position, held up by his hands around her buttocks and hers burrowed into the mattress, as she arched up to meet him. So close, almost there... and then he gave a final groan, slackened inside her, and started to pull out.

“No, no, no,” she said, tightening the grip with her legs. “Stay in.”

“Can’t,” he said. “You not done?”

“Almost, almost, just a little longer!”

“I got you, girl,” he said in her ear, his voice itself sending another shiver through her body. “Just hang on a moment.”

He left the bed and removed the condom. When he appeared ready to toss it aside, Lily sat up on her elbows and said, rather sharply: “The trash can is under the desk.”

That got an eye-roll, but he did as told, and then returned, getting down on his knees on front of her and spreading her thighs aside.

“Well, then,” he said and leaned in for the first lick. “Here goes.”

The previous men Lily had been with had taken a lot of training before they could lick pussy with any sort of skill, but in Mick’s case, it seemed someone else had already put in the necessary work. He knew exactly where to tease with his tongue, where to suck or even nibble, to send her right over the edge screaming with pleasure, and then do it all over again for good measure.

“Holy fuck!” Lily panted, leaning back. “Where the hell did you learn that?”

He raised his eyebrows at her and smirked. “What can I say? I’ve got an appetite. And you’re quite the screamer. Weird you didn’t wake the baby.”

“I put the earmuffs back on.”

“Good thinking.”

Mick reached for his pants, but let his hand fall back down again and sat down on the edge of the bed, brow furrowed. Was he leaving? He didn’t even seem sure, himself.

Well, there was a very simple way to make her own wishes known.

“Stay,” she said, pulling him close and kissing his shoulder. Still those tiny flinches, like he had to brace himself before allowing human contact. “You were supposed to stay here anyway, weren’t you? Might as well be in my bed.”

“Yeah,” he agreed and wrapped his arms around her. “Might as well.”

Slowly, they lay down together, curled up tight in the narrow bed under the duvet.

Of course, everyone knew that orgasms raised the oxytocin levels, and hers were already high to begin with. A sense of companionship was only to be expected, it wasn’t _personal..._

The warm solidity of his body next to hers, steady and soft, just right to lean into, being rocked gently by his breaths. Like curling up in front of an open fire with a mug of hot chocolate.

Lily kissed him again, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 


	4. Chapter 4

Waking up to baby cries was a regular occurrence, but this time Lily had to climb over Mick’s body to get to the nursery.

“Sorry,” she said, trying to keep from poking him in uncomfortable places. “Sorry, I have to...”

He grunted and rolled over on his back for easier access. “It’s okay. Go.”

Her robe was still on the floor, so she put it on and headed out to the nursery, where Ronnie was lying, red-faced and waving his little arms around. The earmuffs had moved into what must have been an uncomfortable angle, and Lily felt rather guilty as she took them off.

Giving him the breast was as much of a relief for her as for him – they had once again become rather uncomfortably full. She settled down in the armchair, and Ronnie drank with a hearty appetite as she stroked his head and hummed to him:

“When I look into your eyes I can see a love restrained...”

She was halfway through the first verse when she realized what song she was singing and why, and fell silent in sheer embarrassment.

The door slowly opened a little, and Mom stuck her head in.

“Hi,” she whispered. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. He’s just eating. Sorry to wake you.”

“It’s fine, I remember what it was like.” Mom padded through the room and stopped by the chair, where she caressed Lily’s hair much like Lily was caressing Ronnie’s. “You left so early, and didn’t answer your phone.”

“Oh. It’s on mute. Didn’t mean to worry you. I got tired, that’s all.”

“I hope you had fun, at least.”

“I had a great night,” Lily assured her.

“Okay. Well, sweet dreams.” Mom bent down and told Ronnie, “Don’t keep Mommy awake now.”

Ronnie let go of the now empty breast and gave a small dissatisfied noise until Lily moved him to the other one, as Mom slipped back out of the room.

Okay. So Mom and Dad were home again. And the rest of Dad’s team were supposed to stay the night, which meant Jax and Sara were probably in the house as well. Apparently no one had missed Mick, or at least not enough for Mom to tell her. His presence in the morning would require some explanation, but considerably less than when she’d been younger and snucksome boyfriend in.

Or she could just tell the truth. Watching Dad have a fit might hold its own form of entertainment.

After Ronnie had finished eating, she rocked him until he had to be changed, fixed that, and then returned to the bedroom.

“Hey,” Mick mumbled quietly. “Do you want me to leave?”

“Absolutely not,” she said and slid in under the duvet.

He scooted aside to make room for her. “Do you want to go again?”

That required some contemplation before she replied: “Do you have more condoms?”

“Of course.”

“Everyone’s home. We’ll have to be really quiet.”

“You’re telling me,” he said with a snort of laughter.

“Okay. Fine. _I’ll_ have to be really quiet.”

Leaning down, she got hold of his jeans and took another condom packet from the pocket. Then she pushed him down on his back, and he willingly followed along.

“How do you feel about cowgirl?” she asked.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

For the first time in months, Lily woke up from the shift in gravity that told her someone had left the bed. It was a larger shift than it had been, back then, and her brain formed the word “Mick” and put a smile on her face before she even opened her eyes and saw him.

“Gotta use the bathroom,” he explained, catching her gaze.

She nodded, and half drifted back to sleep as he left, but something wasn’t right. There was something else he should have done.

On the floor, their clothes still lay in the pile where they had left them last night, with her robe on top.

His clothes. Still here.

There were faint murmurs from further down the hall. Mom’s voice.

The combination of those two things sent Lily wide awake, and with an “Oh, shit!” she jumped out of bed and grabbed her robe.

She managed to slip into the bathroom and lock the door behind her before Mom came close enough to see.

Mick, who was already peeing, frowned. “I usually do this alone, sweetheart.”

“You can’t just walk around the house naked!” she hissed.

“You’ve already seen me naked,” he pointed out. “So has the team.”

“That’s beside the point! And my mom hasn’t!”

“All right.” He finished up his business and flushed. “I’ll go get my clothes.”

“No! She’s out there right now!”

“Fine. You get my clothes.”

“No! She’ll...” Mom’s voice was getting closer now, so Lily lowered hers. “She’ll know both of us are in here.”

Mick rolled his eyes. “You’re a grown woman with a baby. I’m pretty sure your mom knows you fuck guys.”

The face she made at that must have told him something she hadn’t intended, because his expression hardened.

“Oh,” he said. “It’s not ‘cause I’m a guy. It’s ‘cause I’m me.”

“Don’t do that,” she said. “Don’t act like I’m being... families have _boundaries_ , okay? I can’t just fuck a guy in my parents’ house and then parade him around naked before even making the introductions.”

“They already know who I am.”

Lily quenched the urge to scream. Dad’s robe was hanging by the door, and she tossed it at Mick. “Here. Wear this. And wash your hands.”

He caught the robe and turned on the tap. “Ain’t no amount of washing that’s gonna clean me up enough for your parents, sweetheart.”

She sighed and left the room. At least he had agreed to do it.

Mom was waiting outside, and made a move to step into the bathroom, so Lily quickly blocked the door.

“Uh, it’s occupied.”

“Aren’t you done?” Mom asked.

“I am, but... someone else is in there.” This was ridiculous. Mick was right, she wasn’t some teenager anymore who had to sneak around with her hook-ups. And whatever he might think, she wasn’t ashamed of him. She _wasn’t_. “Actually, I wasn’t quite honest with you before. The reason I came home so early last night... was because I was with somebody.”

“Oh,” Mom said, instantly grasping the implication. “Who?”

“Mick.”

“Mick... Rory?”

“Yes.”

Mom looked dazed, fumbling for words, before she managed: “I guess that’s not so surprising, considering some of your high school boyfriends.”

“There was nothing wrong with my high school boyfriends!”

“I didn’t say there was.” Mom reached out and gave Lily a gentle, awkward pat on the cheek. “You are being careful, aren’t you?”

“I know how to have safe sex, Mom.”

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

“He wouldn’t hurt me.” Once he had, by a slip of his tongue, worse than she’d ever been hurt in her life. But that had neither been his intent or, ultimately, his fault. Nothing he’d done since had ever given her reason to fear him. For all the stuff she had heard about him that was no doubt true, this was still something she could say with absolute certainty.

“All right,” Mom said, watching her closely for a moment before her gaze slid away to further down the hall where, presumably, Dad was still sleeping. “Perhaps you’d better leave off telling your father until after the wedding, though. So as to not ruin the mood for Barry and Iris.”

“Yeah,” Lily admitted. “That’s probably best.”

* * *

 


	5. Chapter 5

Dad was dead.

Just like that. Shot by Nazis, a part of history which should have damned well been left behind. Instead of a wedding, there had been a Nazi invasion from another Earth, followed by a state of emergency that had lasted for days and ended in the most devastating way possible.

She had seen the body. She was standing at his funeral. And yet, some part of her brain kept insisting that it wasn’t real, couldn’t be real.

Her dad was a _time-traveler_ , for crying out loud. There had been an entire timeline where Lily was never even born, and he had changed that. Surely preventing a death was nothing compared to that?

Then there was Gideon, who could do so much, who had fixed up Lily’s body in five minutes. How could anyone die with access to technology like that?

How could it all come down to this, a hole in the ground and a bunch of superheroes standing around as helpless and crushed as ordinary people?

Jax was holding the eulogy, sounding as bewildered and heartbroken as Lily felt. He pleaded with her and Mom to forgive him for not saving Dad.

“He’s still a part of you,” Lily said, and she meant it. After these years of their psychic connection, there were little glimmers of Dad showing through in Jax. More so than in baby Ronnie, even, who was currently being bounced on the arm of Rabbi Keshet’s son Sam, and showing off a very Dad-like smile.

Would those glimmers be enough to one day fill the void Dad left behind? His absence felt like the true aberration. A broken part of history – this wasn’t what the world was supposed to look like.

After the service, she got Ronnie back and lingered for a while as the others left. She went up to a tree and rested her back against the trunk, trying to get her breathing back in check.

“Hey, Junior.”

She looked up, meeting Mick’s eyes. They were red-rimmed. The sight landed as a weight in her chest. If even Mick was crying, there was no hope.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice even more gravelly than usual. “He was a good man.”

“I never did tell him about that night,” she confessed.

“Hm. Probably made for a more peaceful death.”

She chuckled at that, though her eyes filled up with tears anew.

Mick hesitated for a second, then dove in for a stiff half-hug around the armful of baby, with a few back-thumps for good measure.

“I’m going back on the Waverider,” he said. “If you need anything... ever....”

What she needed was for the Legends to whoosh back in time and save Dad. But if that were an option, they would have done it already.

When Ronnie was born, Mick’s mere presence had made her feel better. It wasn’t working that way now. Still...

“What if I just need to talk?” she asked.

“That’s okay too.”

“I might take you up on that, then. Thank you.”

He nodded, and blinked furiously a couple of times before abruptly turning away. “Okay, bye,” he said, in a half-choked voice, and walked off.

In Lily’s arms, Ronnie was making inquisitive noises that suggested hunger was not yet urgent, but definitely getting there. She dug out his pacifier, which calmed him for the moment, and did her best to dry her tears before leaving to find a good place to feed him.

Time and tide might be bargained with, but breastfeeding waited for no one.


End file.
